


Coming Through (In Clutch)

by PuppetMaster55



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Post-S6, awkard conversations, the road trip to earth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 05:20:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15332667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuppetMaster55/pseuds/PuppetMaster55
Summary: On the way out of the system, after Shiro's brought back to life, Lance catches a hint of a shortwave broadcast. One that's coming from inside the system.OR: In which Acxa, Ezor, and Zethrid join the paladins on the flight back to Earth.





	Coming Through (In Clutch)

 They were flying away from the system when Lance's comms pinged. It was an incoming signal, a shortwave broadcast. One that came from within the system.

“Uh, guys?” He pulled up video feeds of everyone, and tried to ignore how much his voice rasped from his crying. He turned Red around, looking back over the empty expanse. “We _did_ leave Lotor back in the quintessence field, yeah?”

“Lance?” Allura looked concerned, and pained, and exhausted. Lance could relate to most of it, the day having been long enough. He just wanted to sleep for a solid couple of days. “I am sure. What are you picking up?”

Red's screen zeroed in on the broadcast, to a small section of space nearby. Lance squinted, and Red's view zoomed in, pulling closer and closer until he spotted three figures dressed in familiar armor. “I think... those generals? The ones Lotor was with.”

“What about them?” Pidge asked, frustration bleeding into her voice.

“They're just... floating there. No ship.” Lance grimaced, before steeling himself. Red moved forward. “We should do something.”

“Why?” Hunk's voice cut through everything. “They fought us. Like, a lot. There hasn't been a point where they didn't fight us.”

“Yeah! They took my dad!” Pidge growled. “They gave him to Zarkon. I'm okay with letting them die.”

“Yeah, they really aren't good,” Hunk agreed. “They helped Not-Shiro steal Lotor, and we nearly lost fighting them."

“Hunk,” Allura admonished. “We shouldn't– we're not–” Allura went quiet. “We're not leaving someone else behind to die. We're better than this.”

Everyone went quiet, at that.

Decision made, Lance took Red forward. This wasn't like with Lotor. They could save who they can, even if that meant saving their enemies.

* * *

Two vargas later, Lance flew Red behind everyone else. He and Pidge and Hunk were deemed the ones best to hold each of Lotor's generals, and that left him with the big one—Zethrid—first. She'd eyed up Kaltenecker before asking Lance if he was waiting to slaughter her for food or if she was some sort of pet.

A hurried talk with Hunk had swapped it out for the gangly one—Ezor. That arrangement had lasted only as long as it took before he had to politely call up Pidge. If Ezor wanted to know answers to stuff that he didn't even know (seriously, she'd wanted to know what things said in Altean, and he hadn't gotten around to actually learning the language like Pidge had), then Pidge could answer them.

Which brought Lance to now, with Acxa. The one that Hunk and Keith both knew.

“So,” he began, not sure what to even say, or where he was going. The silence stretched on too long, and there was just... so much he didn't know. “Did you know?”

“About what?” Acxa gave him a flat look, her arms crossed. Like her fellows, she'd agreed to have all her weapons confiscated by Keith, and Lance was glad for that.

“Everything. The Altean colony, the– the clone.” Lance swallowed, hard, and glanced down at the half-finished water pack by his hip. Beneath it lay an empty water pack, crushed for size. He'd nearly cried himself dry after Keith told everyone about the clone, and Shiro's death, and then Shiro's resurrection.

“No.” Acxa glanced at the screen, out into space. She looked... uncertain. “I don't know what he meant, talking about establishing an Altean empire. And I wasn't aware about the clone until Honerva told us to retrieve it and the Sincline ship.” She paused. “I was aware of the Altean colony, however. I am part-Altean, after all.”

Lance jerked the controls, nearly ramming Red into Yellow and causing the comms to erupt. “You're Altean?!”

“Only half,” Acxa replied, blandly staring at Lance as she picked herself off the floor. “Just like Lotor. My mother is Galra, but my father is Altean. I never met him, if you must know. Lotor only discovered me when I wished to go into the military like my sister.” Acxa paused. “She is also part-Altean, although Krolia looks much more Galra than I do.”

Lance stared at Acxa, the comms silent. He'd taken off his helmet, he distantly realized, so when everyone had started talking at him they could hear Acxa casually talk about being part-Altean. He didn't even want to touch the fact that he was currently flying with Keith's _aunt_. “How does Lotor factor into any of that?”

“The Galra only allow those of pure blood to enter into military service.” Acxa returned her gaze to the empty space ahead. “Lotor used his status as prince to sponsor a number of mixed blood. He personally saw to my own rise. I thought he told me everything.”

“Because you're Altean.” Allura's voice cut through everything, hurt coming through. “Lotor only cared because you're Altean.”

“Perhaps.” Acxa didn't seem surprised at the revelation that everyone was listening in. “He never seemed to like that I was more interested in exploring my Galra blood than my Altean.”

“That sounds like Lotor.” Ezor sounded annoyed. “You heard him. He wanted to kill all Galra. That's _us_.”

“We should have restrained him better,” Zethrid grumbled. “Then we could have handed him off to Emperor Zarkon and all of this would be avoided.”

“What was that whole thing about?” Lance asked, genuinely curious. “He never opened up about what you guys had a disagreement over.”

“He killed Narti.” Ezor's voice was curt, fraught with old emotion and lightly bitter. “We don't even know _why_ he did it.”

“Narti was there beside Lotor longer than any of us,” Zethrid added. “He went everywhere with her, if he had to travel light. And then we were attacked by Emperor Zarkon, and he was talking about scuttling the ship and fleeing when he turned and sliced her down. She was probably the closest person to him. No offense, Acxa.”

“Understandable.” Acxa sighed. “I don't even know either.”

“And my dad?” Pidge demanded. “Why did you steal him?”

“We needed a bargaining chip,” Acxa calmly explained. “Someone we knew was important to Voltron, enough that Zarkon could use as a way to barter Voltron, and would allow us entry back into the empire. Samuel Holt was that bargaining chip.” She paused. “Your searches for Matt Holt informed us that he was important to Voltron, and after that bounty hunter called to cancel our contract, I realized–”

“That was _you_?!” Pidge shrieked, furious. “He had to _fake his death_! He was– I thought he was–”

Pidge cut off, growling with unshed tears. A video screen popped up, of Pidge with tears on the verge of falling, and Ezor awkwardly peering over her shoulder.

“Oh! So _that's_ why you wanted to know about my old contacts!” Ezor hummed. “I could have found him just as easily. Then we wouldn't have had to sink all that GAC on that guy.”

“Get out.” Pidge's growl rumbled and cut deep. “Get out of my lion. I can't do this. Lance, you're getting Ezor. I can't have her in the same Lion as me.”

“Oh. Joy.” Lance picked up his unfinished water pack, draining it. “Hunk, what about you?”

“Yeah, you're getting Zethrid.” A video screen appeared, Hunk trying not to glare. “I'm not playing chauffeur to this. She won't stop asking about Yellow's destructive power.”

“Anyone else have anything to add?” Lance dryly asked the comms.

“Acxa, did you really believe Zarkon would spare you?” Krolia asked in the same moment Keith blurted out, “I have an aunt?”

Lance tried not to look at Acxa, instead focusing on Zehtrid and Ezor being launched out of Yellow and Green.

He really wished they could come across a swap moon and leave the generals there, or something. As it stood, Acxa and Krolia weren't currently starting up a classic sibling argument.

It was already going to be a very long, very awkward trip.


End file.
